That's MY Tree
by ThaliaofAvalon
Summary: Nico has trouble getting along with an obstinate, black haired demigod. First, she's too antisocial, and now she won't leave him alone! Full of sarcasm!
1. The Tree

**Disclaimer: Is Rick Riordan pretending to be a female fanfiction writer? Hmm... That's a hard one.**

Nico was waiting. He was always waiting – waiting for his sister to come back, waiting to find friends, waiting for someone to see him for who he was, and love him. He doubted that any of those things were coming anytime soon, but he waited, nevertheless.

Now, however, he was waiting for dawn to come. He was sitting with his back to the tree, almost nodding off, when a certain whispering son of Poseidon, and his blonde girlfriend, tripped over his leg, falling headlong into prickly pine needles.

"Ow!" Percy complained. "I must have tripped over –" he glanced up, seeing a rather annoyed Nico glowering at him. "Nico. Hi. I didn't see you there." Percy grinned brightly.

"I got that," muttered Nico, grimly. "I was trying to get some sleep."

"Try sleeping in your cabin. At least people won't trip over you there," Annabeth suggested.

"I prefer the outdoors to cold, dank crypt-like cabins, thank you very much."

"Your choice," Percy shrugged. The couple headed off deeper into the woods. Nico didn't ask why – he was pretty sure he didn't want to know.

He knew he wasn't getting back to sleep anytime soon, so he stood up, slowly, stretching his aching muscles. "Ow." There was a muscle where his shoulder met his neck that refused to relax. He muttered something about dryads not respecting tired demigods.

He grabbed his hoodie and boots, and put them on over his not-pajamas (black jeans and a T-shirt). He then set off for the Hades cabin, for a change of clothes. A girl might have taken a shower, too, after spending a night in the woods (or five), but Nico figured he'd be fine. Guys don't need to shower, right? Besides, it's not like anyone ever went up and sniffed him. That would be kind of weird.

He exited the Hades cabin, looking like his usual, brooding self. He almost didn't notice the screaming coming from the border. When he did, his eyebrows raised, and he stopped in his tracks, wondering if he'd be needed. Apparently he wasn't, because the campers on guard helped carry a teenage girl to the Big House. He shrugged, heading to the dining pavilion. He sat down at his usual lonely spot, and started eating. He heard whispers about the new girl, but decided it really didn't matter. Campers show up every day. Why should this time be any different?

…

After an exhausting day of sword practice, eavesdropping, and people, Nico headed to his usual, solitary spot to take a nap before dinner. He found, to his great annoyance, a black-haired girl sitting there, leaned over a book.

"Hey." He glared at her. "This is my spot." She looked up at him distractedly. She then looked back down at her book. A couple moments later, she muttered,

"Uh huh." She scooted over six inches, not even taking her eyes off the book. Nico took a deep breath with his eyes closed, and counted to ten.

"I don't think you understand. This. Is. My. Tree. I sit here – and occasionally sleep here – every day. _Only_ _I_ sit here. Not you. Not a couple making out. Not even forest animals." The girl didn't look up from the apparently fascinating book, as she murmured,

"Uh huh. That's nice." Nico could have sworn he saw a slight smirk on her face.

"Are you even listening to me?"

"Uh huh? Really? Wow."

"What does that have to do with this conversation?"

"I don't know."

"So you're paying attention now?"

"Uh huh."

"Good. Now, get out of my spot."

"Uh huh. That's nice."

"What, are you a recording?! I said to move!"

"Uh huh? Really? Wow." The brunette was clearly smiling into her book now.

"Hey!" Nico yelled. The girl jerked out of her book-induced trance.

"My homework's almost done!" She yelped.

"What?" Nico asked, perplexed.

"Sorry. It's a reflex," she replied.

"Uh huh. That's nice," Nico mocked. The girl glowered at him.

"Get lost," she shot back, annoyed. "I was here first! And don't you know better than to keep a girl away from her favorite story?" Nico rolled his eyes.

"Fine!" He acquiesced. The girl went back to her story, and Nico stomped back towards his cabin. "I hate girls," he grumbled. He heard a laugh, and saw Jason Grace leaning up against the wall of the Hades cabin.

"That's what they all say," Jason smirked.

"Who all says that?"

"Everyone. So – which wonderful young lady elicited this remark?"

"Some girl in the woods. I spent five minutes trying to convince her to leave _my_ clearing, and she talked _me_ out of it. She must be an Aphrodite girl."

"Or just an ordinary girl. All girls are like that, whether they have Charmspeak or not. What'd she look like?" Nico frowned, trying to recall.

"I think she had straight black hair. She won an argument against me while reading a book!" Jason raised an eyebrow.

"Reading? Aren't most of the kids here dyslexic? That might actually help us narrow her down." Nico shrugged.

"I don't care, as long as she's not in my clearing again tomorrow."

"She might show up just to annoy you."

"If she does, she's gonna regret it."


	2. Dining Hall

**Disclaimer: I am Rick Riordan's alter-ego. Fun fact – I got the idea for why Nico's so skinny from a characteristic I have – I forget to eat too!**

Nico didn't see the bookworm girl at dinner – which made sense, because Nico didn't go to dinner. 'Didn't he get hungry?' you might ask. Well… Nico is one of those people who, when he gets hungry, he can convince his stomach he's not hungry, and thus forget to eat for up to 36 hours at a time. It's convenient when you're busy with something really important (or trapped in a jar with nothing but magical pomegranate seeds), but can be problematic when you forget to eat on a regular basis. That's why Nico was so skinny.

Nico instead headed off to his tree, to stake it out, in case the girl came back tonight and tried to take it. Okay, maybe that was a _bit_ irrational… But hey, he was a teenager exhausted from lack of sleep and of food. Energetic, full teens are irrational enough. He slumped down against the tree, and drifted off. He remembered none of his dreams – which was a good thing for a demigod. He did, however, wake up the following day with the slight impression of dancing to loud music in his dreams.

…

If he had gone to dinner, he probably wouldn't have seen her anyway. She was cheerily eating mashed potatoes while (surprise!) reading a book – _underneath_ the Hermes table. They didn't seem to realize she was there. Every now and then, she would subconsciously dodge a kick, not even taking her eyes off the book to look at her food. She remained reading under that table, with a flashlight, long after everyone had left, and a bit beyond curfew. Then she sighed contentedly, closed the book, and snuck off into the dark.

…

That day, no couples tripped over Nico's feet at six in the morning, and so he slept in until he felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand up. He drifted into consciousness, but kept his eyes closed, getting a sense of his surroundings as he held perfectly still. He felt like he was being watched, but when he opened his eyes, there was nobody there. He decided it was probably just residue of his dream, and shrugged his hoodie on and slipped on his black sneakers.

He heard a noise behind him, and whirled around, running his Stygian Iron sword through the bushes. He felt rather foolish as a black crow flew into the air, cawing in terror.

"Sorry." He muttered. Nico stumbled out of the woods – and straight into Connor Stoll. Nico landed on the ground, while Connor took off, closely followed by his brother. Trailing after them came an angry mob of naiads. Nico rolled to the side, and got to his feet.

"Well," he thought aloud, "I'm awake now."

"Yeah, there's nothing like a Stoll prank alarm clock." Nico turned around.

"Hi, Will. What'd they do this time?"

"Well… I think it had something to do with hair dye in the ocean."

"That would do it. How's it going?"

"Great, Nico. You?"

"Some _girl_ stole my tree yesterday! I lean up against that tree _every day_! And she had the nerve to say she was there _first_!" Will laughed. And laughed. And laughed. Nico walked away.

"What?" Will shrugged. "It was funny."

…

Nico walked into the dining hall. He ran smack into his _favorite_ person.

"Hey! I was reading!"

"You should try watching where you're going instead of reading!"

"I was doing both. _You_ were the one who wasn't watching where you were going!" She was right, but of course, Nico wasn't going to admit that.

" _I_ was watching where I was going."

"So you intended to walk into me?" Nico huffed.

"Whatever." He walked away.

"Hey, Nico!" Jason called. He walked over to where Nico was standing, and nodded toward the bookworm, grinning. "So – that's the girl that's been giving you trouble?"

"Yeah. Any idea whose kid she is?"

"Undetermined. But from her obsession with books," here he whispered, glancing around for his girlfriend, "and her hotness," his voice returned to normal "I'd say Athena or Aphrodite. You could always ask her who she thinks her parent is…"

"No. She is to be avoided at all costs. Including the pursuit of knowledge." Annabeth showed up.

"Nothing is worth _that_ much!"


End file.
